Recommissioning oil industry equipment

An energy company wanted to bring a large item of process equipment, operating in an explosive atmosphere, back into service. The equipment had been manufactured abroad years earlier and first commissioned in Europe. Over the years that followed it was used in several countries, underwent a refurbishment along the way, and was then taken out of service for 15 years.

The owner planned a full refurbishment ahead of the next project, but a question arose:

what explosion protection inspections, repairs and documentation are needed for the equipment to operate safely and lawfully once again?

A great deal had changed over the years:

• operation in several countries,
• various repairs and part replacements,
• a long period out of service,
• a changing regulatory environment,
• documentation that was partly incomplete or hard to retrieve.

In a case like this, relying on the earlier certificates alone is not enough. Explosion protection compliance has to be reassessed in full.

At the start of a project the questions that typically arise are these:

• What condition is the Ex equipment in?
• Which items can be repaired, and which need replacing?
• Did the earlier repairs meet the requirements of IEC 60079-19?
• Are the original certificates still available?
• Can every modification be traced?
• What costs should be expected during the refurbishment?
• What inspections are needed before recommissioning?

On a project like this, EPDS is not merely a document store: it provides the digital foundation of explosion protection compliance as a whole.

1. Gathering the documentation

• certificates
• nameplates
• technical documentation
• earlier inspections
• repair records
• the history of modifications

2. A digital equipment register

Every Ex device is given a unique identifier, to which the following can be attached:

• photographs
• certificates
• explosion protection markings
• manufacturer data
• condition
• repair history

3. Identifying the gaps

EPDS surfaces automatically, for example:

• missing certificates,
• expired or inadequate documents,
• missing nameplates,
• equipment that cannot be identified,
• open compliance issues.

4. The refurbishment plan

On the basis of the gaps identified, the following can be prepared:

• a repair list,
• replacement requirements,
• the Ex inspections needed,
• initial detailed inspections,
• a compliance task list,
• a cost estimate.

By the end of the project the owner had a precise picture of

• which items of equipment could be kept,
• which had to be repaired or replaced,
• what documentation was missing,
• what inspections were needed,
• what cost to expect for restoring full explosion protection compliance.

All of it was available before the refurbishment even began, so the investment decisions could be made on a sound footing.

After years or decades of operation, the greatest risk is often not the equipment itself but incomplete documentation and a lost history of modifications.

With EPDS the whole Ex life cycle can be traced digitally, so even after a long shutdown compliance can be assessed quickly, the refurbishment planned, and the risk of recommissioning reduced considerably.